This always happens.
Organise a major international trip and the weeks leading up to it can resemble the effects of a violent storm.
Have you heard the saying about London buses? Because it's been a bit like that lately. After a period of relative quiet, thirty bright red buses arrived at our house in a matter of minutes and dropped off a cargo of crazy at the front door.
In the build-up to our 'grand tour' of the UK and Europe, life has become slightly intense.
The calm is coming. Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons (Jonathan Brazil)
We're only a few weeks away from moving house.
Not only are we preparing for our trip but we're also packing up the house, disassembling, de-cluttering, selling online or giving things away, storing stuff, chucking out, loading up and filling boxes and boxes with our treasured possessions.
It's been tough to find any sort of routine or ritual in amongst all this cardboard chaos. We cook less and eat out more. We order food delivery online and we spend less time outside, whether its visiting a cafe or frequenting the occasional shopping mall.
We've also had our fair share of sickness.
Our beautiful, bouncing baby boy has turned into a teething, tantrum-laden toddler with a tendency to collect all manner of illness and pass each and every single one onto us.
I previously considered myself healthy and fit, with a strong immune system and an ability to avoid the common cold or pesky flu. Then my son arrived and everything changed.
In the last month, we've had gastro, chest infections, ear ache and a hacking cough. My wife's best friend is the bathroom while I hide in the garage downstairs, sucking in lungfuls of fresh, clean air and keen to avoid our plague-ridden home.
Then the teething.
Molars, incisors, eye teeth and more. Not two weeks before we enjoy a 14-hour plane ride and Elliot's teeth have all decided to appear. We wake to tears, go to bed with tantrums, and supply a steady stream of teething gel through the long, lonely nights. While his gums are red hot, our sanity hurriedly waves us goodbye.
There's a lot going on.
But the winds of change are blowing and I can already sense the impending calm on the horizon.
Knowing that any period of change is often chaotic and unsettling, and that serenity will come after, I'm happy to take the bad with the good and visualise calmer days that will follow.
I can see the cool water lapping at the edges of the hotel swimming pool. I can hear the excited conversation of guests gathered on stools by the outdoor bar. I can smell the emirate's northern coast, the pungent ocean odours reminding me of home. I can almost taste the dry heat of this high-rise city whose imposing presence is never far from my gaze.
I might be dreaming but I can already feel the calm that follows this storm.
We're almost there.
Sign-up for Free Blog Updates Direct to your Inbox
